Escaping the Undead
by Oliver's Cupcakes
Summary: A series of Zombie AU oneshots, all in the same world, and some interlocking with each other. Thanks for taking the time to read
1. BelaLiech: A Search in Vain

Natalya panted, leaned up against a brick wall with her left arm around a smaller female and her right hand gripping a pistol. She was pretty sure they'd outrun what she had resorted to calling zombies, but if there was anything she'd learned over the last few weeks it'd been to always double check.  
>"Nat, do you thi-"<br>"Shh!" She hated to be mean to the younger girl, but that was another thing she'd learned- safety comes before comfort.  
>A minute passed without shuffling footsteps or a tell-tale moan. The Belarusian girl nodded to her companion, redirecting a pair of sharp violet-blue eyes to look her in the face.<br>"Do you think we'll be able to find my big brother?"  
>Natalya's mouth opened slightly. Honestly she knew she should have expected the question to come up at some point; in fact, it probably should have come up before now. Knowing Lili, though, she hadn't wanted to bother her.<p>

Nonetheless, Natalya had never been a liar.

"No, I don't," she replied bluntly. She wasn't going to sugarcoat it. "I'm sorry, Lili, but it's been nearly a month and we haven't seen any sign of him. I'm sure he would've come looking for you by now and hit me over the head or something."

Lili pulled away from her, showing a rare bit of anger. "First of all, brother's not like that! He's nice! And of course he's looking for me, just in the wrong places! If you'd just let me check at his house-"  
><em>"Lili."<br>_  
>The smaller girl's angry expression faded almost instantly, replaced with one of denial.<p>

"You _know _why we can't do that. The west side of town is the origin of the virus. There are more zombies there than anywhere else. And your house is right in the center of it. If Vash_is _alive, he has the brains to have gotten out of there a month ago if I know him." Natalya had quieted her voice quite a bit; Lili's loudness had made her nervous. Loud noises attracted the zombies.  
>Lili, however, didn't argue further, rather letting out a sigh of defeat. "You're right, I suppose. I hope he turns up soon."<p>

"Me too, Lili, but we have to get going. It's going to get dark soon and we need to find shelter."

It was almost four weeks before that the virus had started to spread. It was a truly ordinary day, in fact, it was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky, a soft breeze and warm air. Natalya had gone for a walk and invited Lili along, and as they were strolling past an electronics store they stopped to see what the fuss was all about.  
>"Several cases of an unknown disease have popped up downtown," the TV explained. "Symptoms include dizziness and extreme hunger, followed by fainting. I'm here in the West Concord Medical Clinic with Dr. Lunneborg and one of his patients."<br>"Thanks, Susan. This is one of the most curious dis- what the -!" The yell was censored as the doctor jumped back from the freshly awoken patient. The cameraman had shifted backwards, making the screen appear to shake. Everything went down from there.  
>There'd been town-wide panic as the news of a seemingly comatose patient- and several others- had awaken and gone cannibal on everyone in the room. Considering the fact that all officials besides the police had fled immediately, it was up to citizens to decide on a course of action. Natalya always kept a pistol on hand, so it was up to her to arm Lili, despite the younger girl's protests trying to convince Natalya to let her return to the house she shared with her brother. They'd made it back to Natalya's house on the east side of town and taken cover there for four days as the situation grew steadily worse. However, Natalya's house wasn't enough to hold back a hoard of cannibalistic undead.<br>The Belarusian had been surprised by Lili's skill with a gun, but considering who she had for a brother, it made sense. The two had packed up food and ammo in advance and all it took to escape from the neighborhood was a whole lot of bullets. The last 4 weeks were spent moving from building to building, looking for their siblings, and blowing in the skulls of their undead antagonists.

And here they were, taking cover in a convenience store that was long since stripped of supplies, trying to ignore the moaning of the undead outside, the blood smears on the floor, and the strong smell of rotting flesh. Natalya sat with her back in the corner with her legs pulled up to her chest and Lili sat in front of her, allowing the older girl to play with her messy hair. Her bow had long since been lost, but it hadn't really mattered, considering there was no one around to mistake her for a boy anymore. Natalya herself had cut her silver-blonde hair short within the first two weeks- less grabbing material for zombies. Naturally hers didn't look as good as Lili's, considering she'd cut it with an old knife.

"Maybe we will find your brother," Natalya murmured optimistically. Despite the fact that she didn't think it would happen, keeping Lili in good spirits was never a bad idea. Out of her view, the blonde gave a weak smile. "Yes, I'm sure we will." In truth, there was nothing Lili had been less sure of in her life. But she wasn't going to give up hope. They _would _find Vash.


	2. SwissAus: I Will Find Her

_Days later.._

Vash crouched tensely behind a.. piano, eyes narrowed and the end of a rifle pointed at the opening door. His finger squeezed the trigger ever so slightly, ready to shoot with a moments notice be the intruder an unknown human or a zombie. The bell on the door gave a tiny clang- he'd long since broken it- and Roderich Edelstein entered the building, bag slung over his shoulder.

Vash removed his finger from the trigger, concentrated face dissolving into pseudo-anger. It was hard to get angry at Roderich any more. "What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to _warn _me before you enter you idi-"

The blond cut himself off when he noticed Roderich's serious expression. "What is it?" Roderich shifted the bag off of his shoulder and onto the ground, coming to stand in front of Vash.  
>"I talked to the group that took control of the grocery store again," he began. "The one Gilbert tried to get us to join. No, I'm not reconsidering it, they just had some good information. Apparently a convenience store a few blocks down's been abandoned for quite a while, but recently they've seen increased activity.." He trailed off, already knowing what was going through Vash's head. The blond hadn't even responded but rather walked into a different room. Within moments he'd returned with a leather bag and was filling it with various objects of importance; cans of food, a canteen of water, and extra ammo among other things.<p>

"Vash, don't make any rash decisions. It could just be coincidence; in fact it's more likely that there's someone there who's _not _Lili and you're just getting your hopes up-"  
>Vash's cold green gaze struck Roderich like a slap to the face. "We <em>will <em>find her. No matter how many empty, zombie-infested stores we have to check, no matter how many miles I have to walk, no matter how many bullets I have to waste on these cannibalistic undead bastards, _I will find my sister. _Do you hear me, Edelstein?"

The Austrian swallowed, nodding wordlessly. "I'm coming with you, then."  
>"No."<br>"I'm coming with you!" His voice rose.  
>Vash gritted his teeth, shaking his head angrily. "You're just going to slow me down."<br>"Vash, listen to me! I'm not a girly aristocratic musician anymore. I've been out here for over four weeks, just like you. Maybe I'm not as good with a gun, but I can shoot it, reload it and clean it, and you can bet every gun you've ever owned I've killed more.. zombies than I'd like to count. Look at me. I haven't played an instrument in weeks. I haven't washed my hair in weeks. I haven't had a hot meal in weeks. And you want to tell me I'm too weak to come with you and find your sister? I don't know if you've noticed, Zwingli, but I miss her too."

The shorter male paused in his packing for a moment before giving a fleeting nod. "Whatever. Do what you want."

It didn't take them long to leave the building, armed and ready to defend themselves. The area immediately outside of the music store (it'd been Roderich's idea to take refuge there) was relatively peaceful, activity-wise. They'd defended their stronghold quite well, not to mention the fact that the grocery store that'd been ruled by a larger group was just up the street. Vash glanced at the building as they passed; it was silent. Suddenly someone was running towards them. Instinct took over and Vash fired at the 'attacker's head.

Roderich raised a palm to his face as the 'attacker' tumbled out of the way and he realized it was none other than Gilbert Beilschmidt.

The grinning idiot stood, waving at the other German-speakers. "Hey! You guys going to check out that convenience store?"  
>"Quiet down," Roderich sighed, approaching Gilbert to have a softer conversation. "You're going to get their attention. But yes, we're going to check if Lili's taking refuge there."<br>Gilbert's face fell. "Well.. about that.."  
>Vash tensed, stepping forwards slightly in an attempt to get into the taller male's face. "What is it? What's wrong?" He appeared angry, but Roderich could see straight through his expression- the blond'd been immediately worried by Gilbert's wording.<p>

The German gave a sigh. "Al and Matt checked it out yesterday. There wasn't anyone there, but there was some.." He broke off, swallowing. "There was fresh blood in the building, signs of a struggle and a ripped up blue jacket. We killed any zombies in the area, but it looked like they'd gotten a fresh meal."

Vash's expression melted away in a split second.

Roderich furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Vash looked to be in a state of shock. His mouth was dropped open slightly, and his sharp green eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates. "Vash, what's the issue.. Lili doesn't have a blue-"  
>"No, she does not. But Natalya does. And Lili left with Natalya."<p>

Roderich nodded once in understanding. "Let's go."

The blond slowly closed his mouth, and in one swift movement turned away from Gilbert and began running down the street. The German in question "Hey! Wait! If the evidence was there there's almost no chance they're ali-"  
>Vash stopped in his tracks, turning to glare at Gilbert. The voice that came from his throat was almost inhuman.<br>"If there's _any _chance that Lili's alive, I will find her."


End file.
